Slack is rolling out a new integration today that lets users keep track of when their next meetings are. The service now supports Google Calendar, which can notify teams in a Slack Channel or privately tell individuals when their next meeting will be.

It’s unknown how much time people spend within Slack, but if it’s going to be your main communication platform, it’s tough to have to switch back and forth between apps just to find out what’s on the day’s agenda. We’d all like a gentle reminder, as we’re caught up in the latest work or random discussion in a channel, that says, “Hey, time to go to this meeting.”

With the Google Calendar integration, users can allow any calendar (even on multiple Google accounts) to post a custom reminder before any events, either publicly or privately via @slackbot. There’s even a daily and weekly events digest that users can opt into.

If you’re interested, here’s how you can integrate Google Calendar into Slack:

Connect a Google account to Slack in order to choose from a list of calendars. As mentioned, multiple Google accounts are supported.

Choose from any calendar associated with that Google account and pick the Slack channel reminders should be posted to.

Customize the options for the new rule. If updates become too much, they can be reduced to daily/weekly summaries or on days that best work for everyone.

Save the integration.

While this integration helps keep engagement within Slack, it’s not a way to replace the calendar application — it’s just another supported service. Users will still have to deal with a standalone calendar app in order to create events and schedule meetings with colleagues, but once that’s done, Slack can act as your own personal assistant to let you know when you should go to the next event.

This is the second integration the company has made this month. Two weeks ago, Slack stepped up its emoji support to now allow users to react to other people’s messages. It’s safe to say that more integrations are expected.

Slack revealed in June that teams have set up more than 900,000 integrations now, a pretty big increase from the last revealed count in February, when there was 800,000. Customers can already add services like GitHub, Google Drive, Trello, and Twitter to their channels.

The company counts more than 1.1 million daily active users on the site — that could be a lot of reminders.

Google today updated Google Calendar for iPhone with a slew of new features and improvements. You can download the new version now directly from Apple’s App Store.

First and foremost, if you’re getting a feeling of déjà vu, it’s because Google Calendar for iPhone launched in March. This was a month after the Android version was updated — some of those same features are only now arriving on iPhone.

The app has gained a 7-day week view. Whether you’re a workaholic or actually plan events for the weekend, this long-time-coming feature will be useful.

Next up, the app now supports interactive notifications on the iPhone. This means when you get notified about an upcoming event, you can now email guests and view maps with just one tap.

Lastly, you can finally add Google Drive files (including Docs, Sheets, Slides, pictures, and PDFs) to events. Best of all, the service will check if everyone you’re inviting to the event can open the file(s) in question, and prompt you to adjust permissions accordingly if not.

This update is the first major improvement to Google Calendar for iPhone since its launch three months ago. Google says all of the above improvements are a direct result of user feedback, though it didn’t share when the app would arrive on Apple’s iPad.

In related news, event attachments have also launched in Google Calendar on the Web by default. The “Add attachment” link appears in all Google Calendar events moving forward, unless your Google Apps admin has disabled Google Drive for specific domains.

In fact, as of today, developers can alsoadd Drive files to Google Calendar events created through the Calendar API. This is particularly useful for programmatically attaching meeting notes or PDFs of booking confirmations.

For more details, check out the guide and reference in the Google Calendar API documentation. Google is taking questions related to attachments and about any other Calendar API features on StackOverflow.com using the tag #google-calendar.

Google has decided to drop support for SMS notifications in Google Calendar. Starting on June 27, 2015, users will no longer receive text messages from the service.

Google’s explanation for killing the free feature is simple: “SMS notifications launched before smartphones were available. Now, in a world with smartphones and notifications, you can get richer, more reliable experiences on your mobile device, even offline.” Out with the old and in with the new.

As a result, you have just under a month to consider your alternatives. Google suggests using “the calendar app that came with your device.” Alternatively, you can also install Google Calendar for Android or iPhone; download it from Google Play and Apple’s App Store.

The instructions for editing default notifications are pretty much the same on both platforms:

Open the Google Calendar app.

In the top left, go to the main menu.

Choose Settings at the bottom.

Choose one of your calendars.

On Android, touch the notification to change or remove it, or touch Add a notification. On iOS, you can edit your default notifications for both regular events and all-day events — touch a notification to edit it, or add another notification.

You can also tweak the sound and vibration settings. On Android, they’re accessible directly in the Google Calendar app: Go to Settings again and choose General. On iOS, you’ll have to open the main Settings app, head to Notifications, and then choose Google Calendar.

Interestingly, Google Calendar will continue to support SMS notifications in the business world: Google Apps for Work, Education, and Government customers will not be affected by this change. That said, it’s not clear for how long the feature will be kept around even for them.

Still, Google’s message to Google Calendar users is clear. If you want to get notifications, it’s time to upgrade from a mobile phone to a smartphone.

Until now, Google Calendar was only available on iOS via Google Sync. Now the company has finally released a native app for Apple’s mobile platform.

Because the app has the same features as its Android counterpart, it also has the new additions from the last major revamp in November. At the time Google promised that “yes, we’re also working on a version for iPhone” but didn’t offer a release date.

First and foremost on this feature list is Events from Gmail, which automatically converts emails into Calendar events wherever the app thinks it necessary (if a time, date, and location are mentioned in an email, that’s usually enough to trigger it). Also included are Assists, which make suggestions for things like places and contacts to save you time creating events. Finally, the new Schedule View (pictured at the top of this article) makes your calendar easier to scan by showing you everything on your calendar in a timeline view.

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In short, the iPhone app has all the major features of the Android app; it’s not exactly a 1.0 release. The app even features Google’s Material Design look specifically for iOS.

In addition to the main features, Google Calendar for iPhone works with all the calendars that are already set up on your phone for both normal Gmail accounts and Google Apps accounts. In other words, this is meant to replace Apple’s Calendar app on iOS.

While Google revamped Google Calendar for Android four months back, it also updated the app again just two weeks ago. The company made some changes and fixed a lot of bugs based on what Android users were reporting.

From what we can tell, these fixes are also in the iPhone app. Now all Google needs to do is bring all of the above to iPad as well.

Google today updated Google Calendar for Android with a slew of new features and improvements. You can download the new version now directly from Google Play.

First and foremost, the app now has a 7-day week view. Whether you’re a workaholic or actually plan events for the weekend, this long-time-coming feature will be useful.

Next up, you can finally add Google Drive files to events. Best of all, the service will check if everyone you’re inviting to the event can open the file(s) in question, and prompt you to adjust permissions accordingly if not.

Speaking of files, you can now import .ics files sent to you in Gmail and other apps. This is mainly for power users (.ics is a global format for calendar files used by various calendar and email programs including Google Calendar, Apple iCal, and Microsoft Outlook), but it will save those users a few steps.

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Other improvements include pinch-to-zoom (not as useful as in image-based apps, but still handy for when your calendar is overloaded with events) and a new option to show week numbers in settings. In case your company really wants you to get something done by week 14, this will be a good way to keep track.

Last but definitely not least, you can finally hide the birthday calendar as well as turn off birthday reminders from Google+ (maybe Google finally realized that this is what Facebook is for). This is available in the settings page, and Google says the feature will come to Google Calendar on the web “next week.”

Today’s update is the first major improvement to Google Calendar for Android since the major Lollipop-focused revamp in November 2014. Google says all of the above improvements are a direct result of user feedback.

In fact, Google says Calendar for Android has “more coming soon,” though it wouldn’t go into detail. As for the equivalent iPhone app, the company is “still working” on it.

]]>0Google Calendar for Android gets 7-day week view, pinch-to-zoom, Drive integration for events, and moreGoogle launches redesigned Gmail and Calendar apps for Android Lollipophttp://venturebeat.com/2014/11/03/google-launches-redesigned-gmail-and-calendar-apps-for-android-lollipop/
http://venturebeat.com/2014/11/03/google-launches-redesigned-gmail-and-calendar-apps-for-android-lollipop/#commentsMon, 03 Nov 2014 18:08:38 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=1595058Google today announced all new versions of Gmail and Google Calendar for the upcoming Lollipop edition of Android. More than ever before, Google has grasped the importance of integrating emails with calendar events. “Every time you book a flight, buy concert tickets, or make a hotel reservation, odds are you get an email with dates, […]
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Google today announced all new versions of Gmail and Google Calendar for the upcoming Lollipop edition of Android.

More than ever before, Google has grasped the importance of integrating emails with calendar events.

“Every time you book a flight, buy concert tickets, or make a hotel reservation, odds are you get an email with dates, times, and other important details,” product manager Ian Leader wrote in a blog post. “But who has the time (or patience) to copy and paste all this into their calendar? In the new Calendar app these kinds of emails become events automatically, complete with things like flight numbers and check-in times. They’ll even stay updated in real time if your flight’s delayed or you receive another email update.”

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Like the recently teased Inbox app from Google, the new Google Calendar for Android pack “assists” to grab information for calendar appointments, so you don’t have to.

“Of course, not all event info arrives in your inbox,” Leader wrote in the blog post. “You often have to piece together phone numbers, addresses, and attendees from lots of different sources, then add them to your calendar manually. With Assists, Calendar can suggest titles, people, and places as you type, as well as adapt to your preferences over time. For example, if you often go running with Peter in Central Park, Calendar can quickly suggest that entire event when you type ‘r-u-n.’”

]]>0Google launches redesigned Gmail and Calendar apps for Android LollipopGoogle Calendar now updates events in real time and finally supports the browser's back buttonhttp://venturebeat.com/2014/10/30/google-calendar-now-updates-events-in-real-time-and-finally-supports-the-browsers-back-button/
http://venturebeat.com/2014/10/30/google-calendar-now-updates-events-in-real-time-and-finally-supports-the-browsers-back-button/#commentsThu, 30 Oct 2014 20:29:26 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=1592328Google today updated Google Calendar with three much needed improvements. The changes are live now; just head to google.com/calendar to use the latest version. First up, you will now see updates without having to refresh the web app. In other words, Google Calendar can now display changes — including new invitations and event updates — […]
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Google today updated Google Calendar with three much needed improvements. The changes are live now; just head to google.com/calendar to use the latest version.

First up, you will now see updates without having to refresh the web app. In other words, Google Calendar can now display changes — including new invitations and event updates — as soon as they happen.

Next, selected calendars can be seen without scrolling. This is the smallest of the three updates, as it only affects those who have more than a few calendars listed in “Other calendars.” You can now see, at a glance, which are currently displayed since the selected calendars are shown right at the top of the list.

Finally, and most importantly, Google Calendar now supports your browser’s back button. Previously, hitting Back would just take you to the last website you visited. Now, the button will bring you to your previous view or date in Google Calendar.

Of course, this could get a bit annoying if you’ve spent a lot of time clicking in Google Calendar and actually do want to go back to the previous page. Still, we think that’s worth it if means not yelling at Google Calendar after you lose everything when all you wanted to do was go one step back.

Google Calendar has come a long way since its release in April 2006. Yet there comes a point when a calendar application hits feature saturation. What would you like to see Google add to the service, if anything?